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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

IT'S ALL IN YOUR MONIKER

I always thought I would like to hike the entire Appalachian Trail--UNTIL I read the book, Stumbling Thru, which changed my other mind. The thought of sleeping in a shelter filled with dirty, stinky, snoring, wet, and obnoxious me and a whole host of others just like me- mostly men every night for a few months quickly killed that burning desire. The author's descriptions of those nights would only leave the truly crazy chomping at the bits to hit that trail-especially the entire thing.

One of the things done by thru hikers on the trail is everyone is given a "Trail Name". A moniker indicative or your personality, your hiking style, your psychosis, and on and on. One of the main characters in the book is "Flutterby"--so named because she fluttered by on the trail with seemingly no effort. It is the hiker's "hash tag" while on the trail.My own little secret is I give nicknames or Monikers to loads of people in my life. There is "Mother Earth", "Perky Pants", "Jet Setter", "The Whiz", and "Whipper-Snapper" to name just a few. Usually done in love---it always describes something about the person. NOW---in my defense, I recently told "Mother Earth" what my nickname was for her and she was thrilled. SO it's NOT necessarily a negative thing. While reading the book, I began to think of the hash-tags, trail names, and nicknames I would give myself. It was quite eye-opening! The need to examine the monikers I might be hung with came rushing to the surface. The fear of hash tags such as #lamebrain, #dimwit, #paranoid, #mentallydeficient, #brickshortofaload, #multiplementaldiagnosis, and on and on caused a dam in the thinking cycle. I was stuck on Who am I? And I began to carefully examine what others would name me.

"Turtle"---I seem to always be at the back of the pack. We have nicknamed one of my little grands, "Ferdinand" after the Disney character, "Ferdinand the Bull". He takes his sweet time when out for a walk. We both like to smell the flowers. That's not always a bad thing--unless you are walking for exercise or under time constraints. During my running days I laughed and told my running bunch, "I know more about your rear end than you do!". I analyzed every gait and freely gave unsolicited and unwanted advice. The fact remains I tend to trail the pack."Sister"---yes, I am an earthly sister, and my two brothers LOVE to tell Sister stories---I am pretty sure they distort the truth. That's okay, because I am prone to doing the same to them when telling "Brother" stories. I also am a Sistah to the vast army of believers. We are members of the family--adopted into the clan---"Brothers & Sisters in Christ."

"Sleeping Beauty"--I like to sleep---such a waste of time--but I enjoy a good night's sleep and get put out when I don't get my 8 hours. With advanced years, the inability to sleep those 8 hours has increased. I am extremely irritated when my eyes pop open at 2:00 AM and I spend the next few hours staring at the ceiling."Dreamer"--not night time dreams--but dreams of the "What If's". Dreams of adventures, travel, relationships, good times, a better world---with my love for reading has come the ability to place myself in the life of the characters I read about. My dreams many times turn into my writing. The page is an extension of what is going through my mind.AND there are the names I can claim which I am not proud of--

"Procrastinator"-I must be the world's worst at putting off until tomorrow! My procrastination creates a cess pool of obsessive thinking on that which I am putting off. Invariably when I finally am backed into a corner and get the chore done--I think WHY didn't I just do it to start with? I could go to the head of the line of the put-ter off-er's--but I will wait until tomorrow and the line has already formed."Cynic"-to avoid the pain of disappointment, I usually do not expect the best from people. I prepare myself for the let down before it is even a possibility on the horizon. This is probably a familial trait--on my mother's side. People will disappoint us at times, but we expect the worst and are surprised with the best.

"Sloth"-I have a lazy streak a mile wide. OH--I LOOK busy--but the truth is I am puttering and NOT making forward progress. Sitting and thinking is my strong suit---in case you have not noticed---it also leads to nothing getting done."CAVE DWELLER"--I LOVE the safety of my cave. The sad thing is I am alone in the cave and that is not good. I need an automatic spring which pushes me out the door everyday and into the world. It is one thing to enjoy your own company, but quite another to become an exclusive club of one with a closed door policy.The list goes on--I only hit a few of my monikers--but the point is---I have the ability to be remembered as "Friend", "Faithful", "Joyful", "Servant", "Child of God"---the monikers I am known by will be determined by how I live---and THAT, Dear Friends---is entirely up to me!

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

You too Lulu? I often call people in Church by nicknames to remind me of who they are. There's "fancy pants" because of the trousers he wears and the fact he is always full of himself, there's "Elegant Lady" obvious, there's ""Scotty" because he always wears a sporan, and many others.

You seem to have created a new game. Why don't we name all our Blog readers/visitors by nicknames. I wonder what you'd call me.

I think most of us nickname others, and not always affectionately. *grin* The only trails I'm interested in is following people's migrations in ancient times, genealogically speaking. Holy Cow, I can't imagine what nicknames folks give me. I dare to think ... probably #dimwit, #hastoomanyopinions or #blondebombshell (only because I can't sit still) would be my moniker. I may not be the brightest bulb in the lamp but I do like to keep moving. Gives people the allusion of importance you know. *giggle* Yeah, Victor would be Funny Man. Fun post Lulu. Hope your day is blessed. ~:)

BlondeBombshell---I WILL leave that alone---though there is a comment on the tip of my tongue! LOL! I am SURE I have been called a few choice names which are not printable--BUT what I don't know won't hurt me!Blessings, Friend!